Filipino folktale-How the Tinguian Learned to Plant

   This is an interesting Folk tales from Philippines. The Philippines is in the south-east country in Asia, situated in the western Pacific Ocean. The culture and the heritage of Philippines are so much rich and wealthy. This folk tale is collected from the book “Philippine Folk Tales”. The author of this folk tales story book was “Mabel Cook Cole” and it was published from “A.C. McClurg & Co., Chicago” in 1916. 

How the Tinguian Learned to Plant

                    - A Filipino Folktale

   In the very old times the Tinguian did not know how to plant and harvest as they now do. For food they had only the things that grew in the forests and fish from the streams. They did not know how to cure people who became ill or were injured by the evil spirits neither and many people died who might otherwise have lived.

   Then Kadaklan, the Great Spirit who lives in the sky, saw that the people often were hungry and sick. Then Kadaklan sent one of his servants, Kaboniyan, to the earth to teach them many things. And it happened this way.

What is Fairy Tales

    Fairy tales are a type of folk tales and almost always engage some elements of magic and a conquest over evil force. The fairy tale has its origin from the ancient times. A very significant literature type, fairy tales are present in all cultures and nations worldwide. A fairy tale is one type of story that typically features fantasy characters, such as fairies, evil spirits, witches, demons, giants, mermaids, talking animals, midgets, knights and heroes, and usually magic or fascinations.
    In every culture demons and witches were recognized as real elements in ancient times. In generally, a fairy tale is a story with fantasy and magic, along with few unbelievable characters and in the end, there will a happy ending. It is similar like folk tales, but it contains more fantasy and totally based on the imaginations. Fairy tales may merge into legends, where the description may be is grounded in a historical truth. Like legends or epics, they usually do not contain more than superficial references to religion and actual places, people, and events; they take place once upon a time rather than in actual times. Some times a fairy tale is constructed by the author’s imagination only; there is no historical ground for that.

Arabian Folk Tales

          In ancient times the Arab people were leading the world in science, education, medical science and culture. Traditional written Arabic was inaccessible for non Arab people before. So it takes time to translate the Arabic folk tales to other languages from Arabic.

    The Arabian folk tales share many features. These folk tale stories display the social structures and values of the Arabs. It displays the position and roles of men and women in Arab society. Their faith on God is usually expressed through the hero, who uses his belief to complete the mission. In these stories the powerful kings or the heroes also depicted and supernatural elements are a very important and common component of most Arabic folk tales.

What are folk tales

   Each and every nation has plenty of folks. A folk tale is a story that comes from the oral convention. The folk tale is a story, passed down orally from generation to generation. These folk tales were not written down, but existed only in the memory of people. Each storyteller told those stories in a little different, making them more attractive and interesting as the ages passed. Different folktales bear the characteristics of the culture, traditions and customs of the people from where they were belong. 

       In their original versions, most folk tales were not children's stories or it was not appropriate for kids, because they were rude and often violent.In many cases, like in the folk tales we can find, the characters are animals with human characteristics.